Garment cleaner and drier



May 15, 1934' T. LONERGAN GARMENT CLEANER AND DRIER Filed May 2, 1952 /7//777 ess Patented May l5, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE GARMENT CLEANER AND DRIER Application May 2, 1932, serial No. 608,651

1 Claim. (Cl. 68--38) My invention relates to improvements in garment cleaners and drers.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel garment cleaner and drier, which is simple, cheap, strong, durable, not likely to get out oi order, which is easily operated and is eiiicient in operation and easily and quickly cleaned, and with which the cleaning liquid may be filtered and withdrawn after use.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a novel garment container provided with novel means for being revolved in a receptacle containing a cleaning liquid, and which by its form and structure forces a maximum of the cleaning liquid through the garments held in the container during a revolution of the container in the liquid.

The novel features of my invention are hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates two forms of my invention,

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly broken away and partly in section oi my improved garment cleaner and drier, of the form having the opening for insertion of garments into and their removal from the garment container in the upper end oi the container.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the garment container and its revolving mechanism shown supported by the receptacle cover removed from the receptacle and shown in central vertical section.

Fig. 3 is a section, partly broken away on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical view, partly in section and partly in elevation of the closure for the garment container, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, its supporting and part of its driving means.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the top frame of the basket of the garment container.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the closure for the garment container shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. '7 is an elevation of the lower portion of the modified form of garment container.

Fig. 8 is a top View of what is shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the strainer and its supporting ring.

Similar characters of reference designate similar parts in the different views.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 and to Fig. 9, 1 designates a receptacle adapted to hold a cleaning liquid, such as naptha or gasoline, having an open top normally closed by a removable cover 2, and. provided with supporting legs 3.

Mounted on an inverted U shaped bracket 4 Aattached. to the top of the cover 2 is a horizontal shaft 5 having at one end a crank 6 and having I fastened on its other end a bevel gear wheel '7 which meshes with a smaller bevel gear Wheel 8 fastened to the upper end of a vertical shaft 9, which extends through the cover 2 and has at 60 tached rigidly to its lower end a horizontal plate 10 which forms a removable closure for the top opening a garment holding basket having vertical ioraminous walls and a bottom, and composed, preferably, as shown, of wire net work 11, the upper end of said basket having a substantially rectangular frame l2 provided at opposite sides re'- spectively with two horizontal parallel flanges 13 removably slidably tted respectively in two parallel guides comprising grooves formed by down-l wardly and inwardly turned iianges 14 at opposite edges of the closure plate 10.

As shown in Fig. 4, a cross ange 15 closes the grooves 16 formed by the flanges 14 at one set of ends ofi said grooves. The other end of the plate 10 has an upstanding ear 17 to which is pivoted a plate 18 movable to and from a position in which it will engage the outer side of the adjacent irame 12, for releasably holding the frame in said grooves, when the garment container is revolved through the intermediacy of the shaft 9, gears 8 and 7, shaft 5 and crank 6.

The bottom of the receptacle 1 is provided with a drain cock 19 through which the cleaning liquid maybe withdrawn, after use, and discharged into a can 20, or other receptacle.

For ltering the cleaning liquid before it is withdrawn, there is provided a removable porous disk, preferably felt, 21 which is fitted to the inner wall of the receptacle 1 and which rests 90 on wire netting 22 mounted on a ring 23 which rests on the bottom of the receptacle l.

In operating the cleaner and drier shown in Fig. 1, the parts being disposed as has been described, the cock 19 is closed and the cover 2 95 removed, together with the garment container, from the receptacle 1. The cleaning liquid is then placed in the receptacle 1, and the closure plate l0 slid 01T from the frame 12 of the garment container. The garments are then placed in the container upon which the closure plate 10 is then applied, the locking plate 18 being moved to the locking position, shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The container is then placed in the receptacle v 1 and the cover 2 mounted on the latter.

The crank 6 is then turned, thus revolving the container plate 10 and the wire basket 11 in the cleaning liquid. By reason of the basket 11 being other than circular in cross section and of its 1-10y having a plurality of foraminous sides, the cleaning liquid has a maximum quantity thereof forced through the basket of the container and through the garments therein.

After the garments have been cleaned, the drain cock 19 is opened. The cleaning liquid passes through the disk or pad 21 which filters the liquid, the filtered liquid passing then through the Wire netting 22 and out of the receptacle 1 through the drain cock 19 into the can 20 or other receptacle set under the drain cock 19 for` receiving the filtered liquid.

The container for the garments is then rapidly revolved, thus discharging centrifugally such liquid as remains in the garments- This liquid also passes through the ltering felt disk or pad 21 and Wire netting 22 and drain cock 19 and into the can 20. In this manner the garments are dried.

The cover 2 is then removed with the container and the garments therein. and the Closure plete 10 is removed from the Wire basket 11, after which the cleaned serments ere removed through the ton opening in the basket of the Container- The p ad or felt disk 21 and the netting 22 are removed cleaned and the inside of the reoepteole 1 is Cleaned. Y

To avoid having to remove the Wire basket with its frame 12 from the closure plate 10, the lower end of the Wire basket 11- of the Container may have an opening normally closed by a Wire closure 24, which is pivoted by a hinge 25', at one end of the closure 24, to a rectangular frame 25 to which the lower end of the basket 11 is fastened, Figs. 7 and 8. The opposite end of the frame 25 has a projecting pin 26 adapted to enter a hole in a spring strip 2,7 fastened to the wire closure 24, for releasably holding said clo- Sure olosed, as in Figs.. 7 and 8- In other respects the modification conforms in Structure and mode of operation to the form Shown in Fiss. 1 to 6 and 9.

By having the basket 11, rectilinearly slidabl'e in the grooves 16 to a substantially central closed position with respect to its axis of revolution, there is no liability of centrifugal force causing it to move outwardly in the grooves, so that it Will strike the receptacle 1, in case that the pivoted plate 18 should not have been moved to the locking position, or had become accidentally displaced from such position; or that, in case of the use of the basket in a receptacle of relatively large diameter, there Would be no liability of the disengagement of the basket from the closure plate 10, due to centrifugal action on the basket.

With the provision of the parallel flanges 13 on the basket or container 11 having rectilinear sliding engagement with the rectilinear guiding flanges 14, the container is operatively sup ported on the closure 10 Without the intermediacy of any other parts, and the container may be readily Wholly disengaged from the closure 10 without the detachment or movement of any other parts.

I do not limit my invention t0 the structures shcrwn and described, as other modifications, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What 1 claim isz- In a garment cleaner and drier, a foraminous ,garment container having an opening for the reception or extraction of garments, a closure for said opening having rectilinear horizontal guiding means upon which said container is rectilinearly slidable to and from a closed substantially central position, and from which guiding means said container may be wholly detached Without movement of other parte, and means rotatably supporting said closure on a vertical ax1s.

THOMAS LONERGAN. 

